A blunderbuss (roughly translated thunder pipe) was a short muzzle loading firearm of enormous bore diameter and short barrel length typified by a trumpet shaped muzzle. Some had stocks like a traditional musket, some were stockless like a large pistol and some had just a nub of a stock suitable only for tucking it under your arm. These were porously designed for use in close quarter combat aboard ships and by carriage drivers in defense against highwaymen.

The blunderbuss is all but forgotten. Practically nobody collects them. They abound in myth and misunderstanding. For example, they were not loaded with nails and broken glass (except by idiots) but with precisely measured amounts of powder and shot. The trumpet shape of the muzzle was not designed to spread the shot (which is impossible) but rather to act as a funnel to facilitate faster loading. The few that I have handled were all flintlocks and all had a bore diameter of around an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half, 125 to 150 caliber! Such a barrel could fire nine .45 caliber balls in one shot.

The closest thing we have now to the blunderbuss is the Mossberg Shockwave and the Remington Tac 14. These serve the same purpose. Even though they are of significantly smaller bore diameter, they hold multiple high velocity shells and unlike their flintlock predecessors, they don't malfunction approximately one out of seven shots.

Even though these short "firearms" are one of the hottest fads going, I don't think most buyers have the slightest idea how effective these short shotguns can be in confined spaces where you just can't have a full stocked shotgun such as inside the interior of your car, or packing it inside of a suitcase to get past the front desk of a motel without alarming the desk clerk.

I for one thought that they were gimmicks when they first came out but after using one I am totally sold. The point is that they are not the best shotgun that you can have, but they are the generally the ONLY shotgun that you can actually have with you.

Contrary opinions are certainly welcome.

_________________ Free people are not equal and equal people are not free.

I'm waiting for the day I hear of someone SBSing a punt gun. Being that it's classed as an "antique firearm" by the ATF and exempt from the NFA rules, no tax stamp required.

_________________R.I.P. Bubbles3/1/91-12/8/05DCx2 Acta Est Fabula"Liberals need to own the First Amendment like the Conservatives own the Second" - Bill MaherMAGA = Morons Are Governing AmericaDoes anybody remember laughter? - Robert Plant

As I understand it, shotguns with bores larger than 10 gauge, up to and including punt guns, are still legal to own, just not legal to use in hunting migratory water fowl. You can still use them to hunt turkey. Not that you would want to.

_________________ Free people are not equal and equal people are not free.

Maybe one of our UK members can confirm it, but yeah here in the US, hunting with a punt gun is considered poaching and is illegal, but I think it's still legal in the UK. As far as the gauge limit here in the US goes, I think an 8 gauge is the max that's legal to use for hunting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

_________________R.I.P. Bubbles3/1/91-12/8/05DCx2 Acta Est Fabula"Liberals need to own the First Amendment like the Conservatives own the Second" - Bill MaherMAGA = Morons Are Governing AmericaDoes anybody remember laughter? - Robert Plant

Joined: Sun May 17, 2015 6:25 pmPosts: 2164Location: On the wrong side of the river, Austin TX

10 gauge is the limit for migratory waterfowl and other migratory game birds. You can use an 8 or 4 gauge to hunt anything else. Some states may have additional restrictions.

Punt guns were used by market hunters before market hunting became illegal and 10 gauge was the line drawn at where punt guns begin. A punt is a boat used by hunters and punt guns were usually mounted on the boat like a cannon. The idea was to hit as many sitting ducks as possible in one shot so the crew could gather the dead game, pluck and clean it, and take it to the market to sell.

In the UK, I believe that landowners legally own the game on their land and landowners pretty much make the hunting rules on their property. The reason for shotshells loaded with traditional paper and fiber wads over there is because a lot of landowners won't allow plastic wads to litter their property.

Oh man! Remember for awhile they sold these barrels for Remington 870s and Mossberg 500s?

_________________R.I.P. Bubbles3/1/91-12/8/05DCx2 Acta Est Fabula"Liberals need to own the First Amendment like the Conservatives own the Second" - Bill MaherMAGA = Morons Are Governing AmericaDoes anybody remember laughter? - Robert Plant

Maybe one of our UK members can confirm it, but yeah here in the US, hunting with a punt gun is considered poaching and is illegal, but I think it's still legal in the UK. As far as the gauge limit here in the US goes, I think an 8 gauge is the max that's legal to use for hunting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Punt gunning is indeed alive and well in UK, pursued by a small but enthusiastic body of 'fowlers. The subject is as much surrounded by myth (especially in the US) as Ezra's blunderbuss.

I think a ten bore is the biggest you hunt with in USA, the eights are verboten. Again no restriction over here; you can use anything you are strong enough to pick up. See below our mate Vikram with what I think is a four bore; bloody lunatic

Eug

_________________For my part, I mind my belly very studiously, and very carefully; for I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else." Doctor Johnson quoted by Boswell.

Joined: Sun May 17, 2015 6:25 pmPosts: 2164Location: On the wrong side of the river, Austin TX

Andy Larson, current president of the Texas Muzzleloading Rifle Association has this 4 gauge muzzle loading trap gun custom made by the late Vic Beeson.I've shot it a couple of times, hitting the clay birds every time. I joked with him "aren't blunderbusses supposed to be loaded with rocks and nails and stuff?The gun weighs close to 13 pounds so the recoil is manageable, besides, we don't put anything close to 1/4 pound of shot in that gun.

Joined: Sun May 17, 2015 6:25 pmPosts: 2164Location: On the wrong side of the river, Austin TX

eugene molloy wrote:

Maser posted

Quote:

Maybe one of our UK members can confirm it, but yeah here in the US, hunting with a punt gun is considered poaching and is illegal, but I think it's still legal in the UK. As far as the gauge limit here in the US goes, I think an 8 gauge is the max that's legal to use for hunting. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Punt gunning is indeed alive and well in UK, pursued by a small but enthusiastic body of 'fowlers. The subject is as much surrounded by myth (especially in the US) as Ezra's blunderbuss.

I think a ten bore is the biggest you hunt with in USA, the eights are verboten. Again no restriction over here; you can use anything you are strong enough to pick up. See below our mate Vikram with what I think is a four bore; bloody lunatic

Eug

If you still stop your swing while shooting skeet with that gun, ain't nothing going to help you.

If you still stop your swing while shooting skeet with that gun, ain't nothing going to help you.

As I understand it, these giant shotguns were designed to be fired from a forked rest in the front of long low boats called punts. The commercial market hunter would lay low in the punt and slowly and stealthily approach a flock of sitting ducks in a lake and then blast the entire flock from a considerable distance, hence the freakish long barrel. This was not about sport but about taking as many birds as possible with the least amount of hunting necessary in order to turn a quick profit.

Joined: Sun May 17, 2015 6:25 pmPosts: 2164Location: On the wrong side of the river, Austin TX

Ezra Smack wrote:

Quote:

If you still stop your swing while shooting skeet with that gun, ain't nothing going to help you.

As I understand it, these giant shotguns were designed to be fired from a forked rest in the front of long low boats called punts. The commercial market hunter would lay low in the punt and slowly and stealthily approach a flock of sitting ducks in a lake and then blast the entire flock from a considerable distance, hence the freakish long barrel. This was not about sport but about taking as many birds as possible with the least amount of hunting necessary in order to turn a quick profit.

_________________R.I.P. Bubbles3/1/91-12/8/05DCx2 Acta Est Fabula"Liberals need to own the First Amendment like the Conservatives own the Second" - Bill MaherMAGA = Morons Are Governing AmericaDoes anybody remember laughter? - Robert Plant